# Jorge Cotal Pet Nat Muscat (2024)

- **Producer:** Vinos Jorge Cotal
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** sparkling
- **Grapes:** Muscat of Alexandria
- **Region:** Itata Valley, Chile
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 11.5%
- **Average price:** €25
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now
- **Serving temperature:** 6–8 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** elderflower, orange, lemon, grape, rose, bread, biscuit, brioche

## About this wine

Winemaker Jorge Cotal is a fourth-generation vigneron based in Guarilihue, within Chile's Itata Valley. Renowned in the South American natural wine movement as the pioneer of single-fermentation sparkling wines in the region, Cotal works with ancient, un-grafted dry-farmed bush vines planted in granitic and volcanic soils. Despite catastrophic wildfires in 2023 that destroyed his family home and winery, Cotal rebuilt his operations with international community support, continuing to showcase the authentic, historical terroir of the Secano Interior.

## Interesting facts

- Winemaker Jorge Cotal is celebrated across Chile as the 'King of Pet-Nat' for reviving ancestral sparkling wines.
- The grapes are harvested from 90 to over 100-year-old un-grafted bush vines dry-farmed without irrigation.
- After devastating 2023 wildfires burnt down his winery, global crowdfunding helped Cotal rebuild in Itata.

## Food pairing

The bright, racy acidity and crisp effervescence cut through rich, creamy, or fried dishes such as soft goat cheeses and fried chicken, while the exuberant floral and citrus fruitiness enhances delicate seafood ceviches and balances spicy Latin or Asian dishes.

## Wine making process

Crafted using the traditional ancestral method (Método Ancestral), primary fermentation starts spontaneously with native wild yeasts in open vats. The wine is bottled under crown cap before primary fermentation finishes, capturing naturally produced carbon dioxide inside the bottle. It undergoes no fining, no filtration, and receives zero or minimal added sulfites, remaining on its fine yeast lees until consumption.